Horses

Tim Johnson traces connections between the artistic and spiritual practices of various countries and cultures in his work. He explores how symbols and motifs belonging to differing traditions, places and times can be combined visually as well as conceptually, resulting in richly imaginative multi-layered paintings.

'Horses' exemplifies this practice. It incorporates ideas about the first Gulf war, which Johnson saw as an embodiment of the apocalyptic scenarios recorded in the Book of Revelations. Its title relates to the depiction of a horse just below the centre of the painting and references the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. In contrast to Western notions of the 'end time', images of Buddha and cartouches borrowed from Dun Huang cave murals in China are integrated into the painting.

The painting also relates to the artist's experience of the Western Desert in the 1980s, where seeing a wild herd of horses running in the desert landscape made a vivid impression on him. Demonstrating the strong influence of Western Desert art on Johnson's work, 'Horses' incorporates repeated roundel forms, referencing the concentric circles and multiple sites of Papunya painting.